


remember me for centuries

by the_bisexual_disaster



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Angst, Mipha (mentioned) - Freeform, Past Character Death, Post BotW, Revali (mentioned) - Freeform, but could also also be read as two friends just being pals, could also be read as zelink, could be read as botw2 predictions, someone give link a hug, this is just a buncha sads ngl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 18:35:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29230107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_bisexual_disaster/pseuds/the_bisexual_disaster
Summary: A small, broken bottle in the middle of Fort Hateno allows Link to remember someone he’d forgotten.
Relationships: Aryll & Link (Legend of Zelda), Link & Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	remember me for centuries

**Author's Note:**

> hi! i was sad and went to my discord friends and we tormented ourselves with sad link’s family headcanons for hours on end. also i’ve fallen in love with our version of botw!aryll even though she doesn’t exist. i also have another story planned out for link’s dad. maybe i make this into an ongoing series. who knows?

Fort Hateno never felt any different from the first time Link remembered traversing through on the way to Hateno Village to meet Purah. The hundreds of deactivated guardians left him on edge, even if he couldn’t exactly explain why. Once he truly remembered the events of what came to be known as the Miracle of Fort Hateno, he began feeling less unsettled and more afraid. Even now, well after he and Zelda sealed away Calamity Ganon for good, he couldn’t shake the sense of something behind him. He stayed close to his princess, ready to protect her at a moment’s notice. Zelda seemed on edge too. Her head swivelled from side to side as if she expected someone, or something, to appear. 

Link reached into his pocket and clutched the small bottle he kept there. Impa had given it back to him when she returned his Champion’s tunic. 

“I’m not sure what it is or what it means to you,” Impa told him when he asked, “but Princess Zelda handed it off to me along with that tunic. I figured you could at the very least make use of it when you came to me.”

He never did make use of it the way Impa was probably expecting. It felt wrong to use it, but he couldn’t get rid of it. Perhaps it was idiotic, asinine, as Revali might have said, but the small bottle brought comfort to him. For whatever reason, it reminded him of home, even if he still didn’t remember what home was.

“Can we move faster?” Zelda asked. “I want to get home.”

He nodded, and urged his horse a little faster, checking over his shoulder to make sure she followed. She didn’t, and Link found it strange considering her request. He dismounted and walked up to her horse. 

“There’s something… it’s probably nothing. Let’s just keep going,” she said.

He followed her gaze and saw something sparkle in the dirt. How had he not noticed it before? He’d ridden this path so many times before and never noticed anything outside of a few mushrooms that had managed to grow amidst the devastation. A small broken bottle was what caught Zelda’s attention. It was so familiar to him that he felt a rush, the same that came when a memory of his past returned to him.

Link walked through the front door of the house he grew up in, feeling dread coiling in his gut, worse than when he’d first pulled the Master Sword and saw the expression in his father’s eyes. This would be the last time he returned home in a very long time. The King had learned about the Sword that he carried and appointed him champion without a second thought. He had already travelled across Hyrule to help the Princess recruit the four Champions who would pilot the Divine Beasts and he supposed it was only a matter of time before he was recruited as well. The King had given him the week before the Champion’s Ceremony off, and so he went home. He wanted to see his sister once more.

Aryll was cleaning up from her breakfast when he walked in. Their mother had passed when they were young, and with their father in the army as well as Link, she had the house to herself. It must be lonely, living alone.

“Link!” she exclaimed once she saw him standing in the doorway. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming home, you big doof? I could have cleaned or made something or- I don’t know!”

He chuckled and accepted her tight hug. 

“There’s something you want to tell me. Go ahead, spit it out.”

Link sighed. His twin sister always had the uncanny ability to know when something was wrong, especially with him. Her face fell as he averted his gaze.

“You’re not… coming back after this, are you?” 

He took a deep breath before speaking. “The king… he’s decided I am to be a Champion and the princess’ sworn knight. I wanted to come see you before my service truly starts.”

Aryll sighed and sat down. “How long are you in town?”

“A week.”

“Well then, I suppose we should make the most of this week.” She jumped to her feet. “I forgot! I have something I meant to give to you.” ||She ran upstairs and Link could hear her shuffling through her things looking for it. He reached into his pocket and gently touched his own present to her. He hoped she would like it.

Aryll ran back down stairs, clutching something behind her back. “Okay, now close your eyes and hold out your hand,” she commanded. He listened, and she placed a small bottle into his hand. 

“So, what do you think?”

He opened his eyes to see the pink, fluttering fairy in the bottle. It was small enough to fit neatly into his pocket.

“I- you know I can just find these by the fairy fountains, right?” he asked.

“Oh, shut up. I wanted to make sure you at least have this. I know Mipha’s a champion too, but she can’t always be with you, so I figured this would be a close second.”

He clutched it close to his chest. “I love it, Aryll. Thank you. But now, it’s your turn.”

“You didn’t- okay, alright.” She closed her eyes and held out her hand, and he placed an identical bottle in her open palm. When she opened her eyes, she laughed. 

“I can’t always… be here to protect you,” he said, scratching the back of his head.

“I don’t need protecting-“

“I know, but these are dangerous times. I want you to be safe.”

Her eyes sobered and she pulled him in for another hug. 

“I love you, Link.”

“I love you too, Aryll.”

Link opened his eyes in the present with a gasp. Warm tears trailed down his face and fell onto the ground he was kneeling on. Zelda was shaking his shoulder, calling his name, and it seemed like she was doing so for a long while.

“Link, are you alright?” she asked, worry clear in her voice.

“Aryll…” His voice broke as he said his sister’s name. “She… she must have died here… I didn’t- I could’ve- I could have saved her…” 

Zelda moved around to his front, avoiding the broken glass by his knee, and pulled him into a hug. He buried his face in her shoulder and cried for the family he lost and forgot. Aryll didn’t deserve to die in this place. She didn’t deserve to die like he did. She didn’t… 

Zelda’s warm hand ran through his hair in an attempt to soothe him as he continued to cry and grieve.

“I know… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry, Link…”


End file.
